Vinokourov wins men's road race

KAZAKHSTAN'S Alexander Vinokourov has won a two-man sprint to claim the gold medal in the men's road race at the London Olympics.

Vinokourov jumped on the tail of Rigoberto Uran Uran when the Colombian broke away with only a few kilometres left to the finish line.

The chasing pack did not have the energy to follow and left the two riders to battle it out for the gold and silver medals.

The two break-aways settled themselves for the final sprain but the Colombian made the fatal error of looking over the wrong shoulder and Vinokourov pounced, winning his, and his country's, first gold in the road race.

Norway's Alexander Kristoff claimed the bronze medal while Stuart O'Grady was the best of the Australians finishing in sixth position.

Earlier, O'Grady, with a handful of riders, managed to steal away from the Team Great Britain-led peloton and open up a sizeable gap.

Once left behind, the main peloton was never able to reel in the lead group, leaving many of the pre-favourites, such as Team Great Britain's Mark Cavendish and Australia's Matt Goss, wallowing in the lower positions.